


With you, I am free

by ChampagneSly



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Host Clubs, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 06:54:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6944338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChampagneSly/pseuds/ChampagneSly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kagami’s heart had burned bright, startled into racing by blue-blue eyes and the kindest voice he’d ever heard. While Alex had laughed and carried on, losing herself in sea of bought men, Kagami had struggled to untie his tongue long enough to explain that he’d never met a host, that he was just a basketball player and not the sort of guy who knew what to do in a place like this, that he’d just been dragged along for the ride.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With you, I am free

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2016 KagaKuro Exchange.

 

 

The first time, he blamed it on Alex, who was loud, American and perpetually interested in doing things that no self-respecting person should want to do. She had wanted to go, wanted to know what all the fuss was about, wanted to get a little drunk and pay for the privilege of pressing kisses to the cheeks of charming men while watching Kagami squirm with discomfort. And there had been squirming and grumbling and all the discomfort that Alex so enjoyed, but there had also been him, unexpected and unassuming in place that was as over the top as Alex’s cleavage.

Kagami hadn’t known what to do when he sat down next to Kagami and smiled faintly like he somehow understood everything about this whole situation was a really bad joke.

“Hello,” the man had said, still half-smiling, still looking Kagami like he was a puzzle waiting to be solved. “I’m Kuroko Tetsuya.”

Kagami’s heart had burned bright, startled into racing by blue-blue eyes and the kindest voice he’d ever heard. While Alex had laughed and carried on, losing herself in sea of bought men, Kagami had struggled to untie his tongue long enough to explain that he’d never met a host, that he was just a basketball player and not the sort of guy who knew what to do in a place like this, that he’d just been dragged along for the ride.

“Then I must make sure Kagami’s first experience is a good one,” Kuroko had said to him that very first time they met, with his lips so close to Kagami’s ear that Kagami had been able to feel the warmth of his breath. Kagami had wanted to turn his head and pull the air into his lungs, just to taste a little bit of what Kuroko had on offer. Kuroko had stayed just out of reach, even as he promised, “I want you to remember me fondly.”

The second time, he blamed it on needing to know if the first time had been a fluke—if his very fond remembrances were some sort of intense reaction brought on by overexposure to Alex—but after the third, fourth, fifth and sixth times and it still kept happening, when he still burned for Kuroko’s attention, Kagami knew he had no one to blame but himself.

He thought maybe he should place a little bit of the blame at Kuroko’s feet, but then again, Kagami knew all too well that it was the guy’s job to convince poor schmucks to keep coming back over and over again. After all, it wasn’t Kuroko’s fault that Kagami was too dumb to know better, too weak to keep from giving in to the temptation to have just a little bit more of Kuroko’s time; to have the chance to feel himself grow warmer and warmer beneath the gentle, practiced weight of Kuroko’s regard.

After each visit, he told himself it that this was the last time. He promised himself that he wouldn’t put on his best clothes and slick down his hair and freshen his breath just in case this was the night when Kuroko finally closed the carefully kept inches between them. He tied his shoes and told himself that after tonight, he wouldn’t let his feet carry him back to the club, that he wouldn’t hand his credit card over as he moved his lips around the shape of Tetsuya’s pretty name and asked to see him just one last time.

Before he left the house, he always promised himself, “No more, no more than this, Taiga, because this is a game you just can’t win.”

And yet, every time he left the club, cash-poor and riding high on the curve of Kuroko’s smile, Kagami fell into bed and placed his hand over his racing heart and knew that he was the worst kind of liar.

He knew he wasn’t going to stay away, wasn’t going to stop spending his time and money, because there was something about Kuroko that draw him in like a moth to a goddamned flame. It wasn’t that Kuroko was the best looking guy in the club, but there was something in the way Kuroko always seemed to take Kagami so seriously, even when he was poking fun or laughing at Kagami’s terrible jokes. There was something in Kuroko’s quiet, steady attention that made Kagami feel like he was more than he’d ever dared to believe.

Kuroko touched him like he was special, like it was some sort of privilege to put his hand on Kagami’s knee. The careful press of each fingertip was intoxicating, enough to drive Kagami mad with wondering what it would be like to touch in return, to have the right to seek out all the secrets of Kuroko’s body.

Worst of all, sometimes Kuroko looked at him, with his eyes wide and his mouth parted around Kagami’s name, looked at him like like he might just want the same thing.

Kagami desperately wanted to believe it was real and not a ploy to get gullible customers to open their wallets as they opened their hearts. He wanted it to be real so badly it hurt. The thought, the very idea of Kuroko outside of the club was an itch he couldn’t help but scratch, no matter how dumb he knew it was to hope for something more.

The seventh time he went, Kagami stood outside of the host club and wondered just what he was trying to accomplish in coming back again and again to throw his money and probably not-very-subtle affections at someone who probably only saw him as client and not as crush. In a moment of shocking self-awareness, he wondered if it was the same sort of stupid determination that drove him to shoot baskets until his hands cramped and his coach banned him from the court, wondered if he was just the kind of guy who couldn’t help but strive for the impossible…even if it hurt.

He turned as red as the roots of his hair when the host at the front of the club waved him towards Kuroko with a wink, as if it was common knowledge that Kagami Taiga had a favorite. But then there was Kuroko’s cool gaze to soothe the embarrassing burn and Kagami felt the shame fade into something sweeter, the simmer of anticipation as Kuroko moved towards him, crowds parting for him like he was nothing more than a shadow. Kuroko stopped, stood in the midst of all the pseudo-lovers swaying together on the dance floor and stared at Kagami, his lips turned down and his shoulders slumped.

Kagami held his hand out, offered all that he had to give to wipe the worry from Kuroko’s furrowed brow. Kuroko smiled sadly at him and nodded his head, closing his eyes for one-two-three beats of a too-happy song and came nearer and nearer still, each step taking him closer to colliding with Kagami’s outstretched hand.

Kagami had never been so mesmerized, never been so lost.

“Kagami,” Kuroko said, slipping beyond the reach of Kagami’s fingers to come just close enough that Kagami could hear him over the music’s low, rumbling beat. “I wish you hadn’t come here.”

Kagami felt his knees buckle as if he’d just missed the game winning shot, his hand falling uselessly to his side. “What?”

“You’re bad for business,” Kuroko said, his gaze as sad as his voice was gentle.

“Gah!” A hot, sick flush crept up Kagami’s throat, threatening to choke him before he could stammer, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to monopolize your time.”

“Kagami misunderstands me.” Kuroko shook his head slowly and reached for Kagami’s burning face. Kuroko’s hand hovered centimeters from his cheek, holding there as if uncertain that Kagami’s skin could withstand the touch. Kagami held very, very still, wary of spilling his broken heart into Kuroko’s palm. Kuroko closed his eyes and sighed. “You are bad for business because I no longer want to give my time to anyone else.”

“Oh,” Kagami answered dully, too busy trying to wrestle down his rebounding heart from the heights of sudden joy to think coherently. “Um, that’s cool, you know…with me.” Kuroko’s eyes flew open. Kagami swallowed and leaned forward until Kuroko’s palm was resting against his cheek, the feeling of it sticky-sweet and perfect. “You’ve gotta know I want your time.”

“After the sixth visit in eight days, I had hoped,” Kuroko said, poking Kagami’s cheek with this thumb. Kagami gnashed his teeth, trying to land a quick nip in retaliation. Kuroko dragged his thumb across Kagami’s bottom lip and effectively reminded Kagami just who was in charge as he pressed in closer. “But there are lines I am not supposed to cross.”

“I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“I know,” Kuroko said with a smile. “Kagami is very kind and very noble, even for someone who already has their own keep-bottle.”

“Idiot,” Kagami said, his favorite neck flush returning full force. “I only did that so I had an excuse to come back and see you.”

Kuroko’s smile turned dangerous and, really, Kagami thought, it was sort of galling that he even found Kuroko’s “ _no shit, Sherlock_ ,” look endearing.

“Shut up,” Kagami said, settling his hands on Kuroko’s waist as he pursed his lips and risked a kiss to the tip of Kuroko’s still wandering thumb. “So, what do we do now?”

Kuroko’s eyelashes fluttered, open-close-open, as his thumb dipped into Kagami’s mouth for the shortest and longest second of Kagami’s life.

“Kagami takes me home,” Kuroko murmured, his thumb falling free of Kagami’s stunned mouth. “And then takes me on a date.”

“Um,” Kagami struggled with his words as Kuroko smiled up at him serenely, as if what he’d just offered was nothing at all. “Aren’t you doing it backwards?”

“I don’t know,” Kuroko said, sliding his knee between Kagami’s legs and cuddling in close as he teased. “After all, I’m just a host. I’ve never met a basketball player before. I’m not the sort of host to who takes a liking to his clients. I’ve just been along for Kagami’s ride, so I expect you to take responsibility.”

“Then I had better make sure your first experience is a good one,” Kagami said, rolling his eyes and digging his fingers into Kuroko’s waist as he resisted the urge to make a scene right there in the middle of the club. “I want you to remember me fondly.”

Kuroko splayed his hand over Kagami’s pounding heart and smiled. “I already do.”

~~

“Is this alright?” Kagami asked, crowding Kuroko against his bedroom door and kissing a throat that still smelled of cologne.

“Probably not.” Kuroko tilted his chin up to make room for Kagami’s lips as his hands slipped beneath Kagami’s shirt. “I’m almost certain to be fired.”

“I meant the kissing.” Kagami said, resting his forehead against Kuroko’s neck, his mouth pressed against the anxious racing of Kuroko’s pulse.

“Then yes, that’s alright.” Kuroko slid his knee between Kagami’s thigh and dragged a single finger up the bare curve of his spine. “Kagami has some talent.”

“You don’t have to sound so surprised,” Kagami grumbled, nipping the shell of  Kuroko’s ear and pressing their hips together so he could feel the proof of Kuroko’s appreciation of his ‘talents.’

“Well, you are very bad at flirting,” Kuroko said, getting in one last dig before covering Kagami’s outraged mouth with his own and kissing away every last complaint. “But somehow I knew,” Kuroko murmured between small, quick kisses, “somehow I knew we would be good together.”

Kagami’s heart tripped. “Yeah?”

Kuroko caught Kagami’s chin between two fingers and kissed him deeply and carefully, as deliberate in his attentions and affections in Kagami’s darkened bedroom as he had been in the club.

“Yes.”

Kagami braced his hands on either side of Kuroko’s shoulders, rocked his hips once, twice, three times until Kuroko’s breath caught on a moan. Kuroko’s pleasure warmed him down to his very bones, made him hard and desperate and teetering on the edge of saying things it was probably way too soon to say, words that made his face turn red and his body feel like it was on fire.

Kuroko moaned again, a quiet, polite-sort of sigh that Kagami wanted to hear on repeat for hours and hours.

“You make me feel like I could do anything,” Kagami said before he could think better of it, dropping his hands to Kuroko’s waist and pulling him towards the bed. “Make me feel like I’m special.”

“Kagami makes me feel things I should not,” Kuroko answered in kind, his fingers fumbling with Kagami’s belt as they stumbled together in an awkward, eager tangle of limbs.

“I’m sorry,” Kagami said, even though it was hard to be sorry when Kuroko’s thumb was tracing the curve of his cock.

“I’m not,” Kuroko said, cupping his hand around Kagami’s dick and squeezing. “Because Kagami is real to me.”

Kagami tumbled Kuroko to the bed, framing his smaller body beneath the arch of his chest and the span of his arms. Kuroko looked at him with those pretty blue eyes, as wide-open and wondering as they had been the first time Kagami caught him staring and dared to hope that maybe not everything was artifice and exchange, that maybe he wasn’t alone in feeling like he and Kuroko were meant to be.

“Yeah,” Kagami said, lowering himself down until they were pressed together from stem to stern and he could feel the whisper of Kuroko’s excited breathing against his lips. It seemed impossible somehow, that anything could be better than the fantasy of Kuroko, but in the here and now, fantasy paled in comparison to the reality of Kuroko like this, hard and pinned beneath him, arching his body into the slow thrust of Kagami’s hips. Kagami dragged his hand down Kuroko’s face, pushed his mouth open with thumb and kissed him with a promise on his tongue. “This is real.”

“I want to see you,” Kuroko said, twining his legs around Kagami’s hips and pulling up into the push down of Kagami’s cock.

“Bossy,” Kagami complained, half-heartedly swatting Kuroko’s wandering hands away from the hem of his shirt.

Kuroko ignored him entirely, instead busying himself with stripping Kagami’s shirt off. “Kagami should try being at the beck and call of many, many demanding clients before he judges too harshly.

“So, what, you just want to tell someone what to do for once?” Kagami scoffed as he emerged from his shirt-prison, refusing to admit that the thought of Kuroko ordering him around maybe, just maybe curled his toes a little bit.

“I want to see all of you.” Kuroko grabbed Kagami’s belt and tugged, smiling faintly as he confessed, “As I have since the first moment Kagami walked into my club.” Kagami stared in wonder, stunned into silence as Kuroko traced shapes on the planes of his chest and sighed, “You are the most noticeable person I’ve ever met.”

“I feel the same,” Kagami groaned as Kuroko stroked his nipples, circling them gently between forefinger and thumb. “I mean about you, obviously, not about me because that would just be weird.”

Kuroko laughed and leaned forward to litter Kagami’s throat and collarbone with kisses. “I think Kagami is the only one who has ever thought so.”

“Then everyone else is an idiot.” Kagami threaded his fingers in Kuroko’s hair and brought their lips together in a messy embrace.

“Perhaps you just bring it out in me,” Kuroko said, slipping words into Kagami’s mouth as he pulled Kagami’s underwear down and circled his hand around Kagami’s cock, stroking it ever so gently. “You’re so bright. So bold.”

“Says the guy holding my dick,” Kagami moaned, struggling to maintain his composure long enough to push a hand between their bodies and reach for the front of Kuroko’s pants.

“But Kagami seduced me first.” Kuroko arched into his touch, his voice cracking on a sigh as Kagami finally managed to take him in hand.  

“I did no–”

Kuroko cupped Kagami’s balls, cutting off his protest.

“You did,” Kuroko said, dropping his forehead against Kagami’s chest. “When you kept coming back. When you looked at me like I was the only one in the room that you saw.”

Kagami tipped Kuroko down to the mattress, his body heavy and hot with the thought that he brought this out in Kuroko. It seemed crazy that anyone would want him like this, badly enough to risk their job. It was crazy that they were here together, half undressed and breathing each other’s breath, kissing like they were drowning, tangled up in one another’s lust.

“I guess it is my fault,” Kagami said, remember each and every time he’d walked through the front door of the club, knowing that he’d come with only one person in mind.

Kuroko smiled at him, his lips kiss-stained and swollen, and dragged their cocks together. “Then Kagami should take responsibility.”

Kagami nodded his head and braced his arm above Kuroko’s head, too far to do more than silently agree as Kuroko kissed him deeply. Kagami knew that the time for talking was over, that now was the moment for action and touch, pushing his free hand between the arch and writhe of their bodies to tangle his fingers with Kuroko’s and help him stroke. Kuroko was trembling beneath him, sighing into Kagami’s mouth and making Kagami’s skin prickle with desire. Kagami held on to what little control remained, kissing Kuroko’s throat, the clench of his jaw, the tip of his nose, and the upturned, happy corners of his lips.

“I can’t last,” Kuroko mumbled, his fingers digging into Kagami’s shoulder.

“I got you,” Kagami promised, keeping his eyes glued to Kuroko’s face as he stroked them both a little bit faster.

He watched in awe as Kuroko’s eyes fluttered open and closed, knowing he had never seen anything as real and as hot as the moment Kuroko’s big blue eyes opened once more, going as wide as the surprised, “oh” of his mouth as he came.

Kuroko sagged down to the pillow, his face flushed and beautiful against Kagami’s sheets. Kagami chased after, wanting to feel the aftermath of Kuroko’s enjoyment. Kuroko kissed him lazily, dragging his foot up and down Kagami’s still half-clothed thigh and curling a shaking hand once more around Kagami’s cock.

Kagami arched into the touch, pushed into the circle of Kuroko’s fist and thought wildly that one day he’d have to thank Alex for dragging him to a host club. Kuroko whispered in his ear, said his name and urged him on. Kagami closed his eyes and buried himself in the shadow of Kuroko’s throat, his lips sticky and desperate against Kuroko’s skin as he let the wave of his orgasm crest over, his come falling hot and thick on Kuroko’s stomach.

Kuroko kissed his cheek, caressed his back and carried Kagami’s weight as Kagami remembered how to breathe. Kuroko said nothing, just stroked Kagami’s hair and filled the silence with little happy sighs that sounded like secrets Kuroko had been keeping for far too long. Kagami held the sounds against his heart, kept the echoes close for those times when Kuroko would have to go and belong to someone else.

He didn’t know how it was going to be from here on out, didn’t know if Kuroko was going to go back to the host club, didn’t know much at all, really, about the man next to him in bed. But this, Kagami knew for certain, had known from the first time they talked, from the first moment they touched—he was always going to want more, want anything that Kuroko cared to give. Whether he was a host, or a teacher, or just another person on the streets, somehow, Kagami knew, he and Kuroko were meant to be.  

Kagami pushed himself up on his forearms, stared down at Kuroko’s happy, open face and smiled. “So what do you want to do on our date?”

Kuroko smiled at him in return and said, “I’ll take Kagami for a milkshake. My treat.”

 


End file.
